


Tough Love

by lenasmagic (dimensionhoppingrose)



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Other, Post 2x20 Timephoon, Spoilers, Spoilers for Timephoon, even if they're not actually family, family love, small cameos from other characters not worth tagging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 13:02:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20582939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimensionhoppingrose/pseuds/lenasmagic
Summary: In which Lena is somehow the sister Louie didn't know he needed.





	Tough Love

**Author's Note:**

> While I want to firmly believe that Lena was just sleeping through the storm, I'm entertaining the idea that she's just not ready for mansion life or having a full time family. So here we are.

“Whoa.”

Scrooge had basically told Lena she was welcome to come to the mansion whenever she wanted, and Lena shamelessly took advantage of that. She had been on her way over to ride out the storm until it became clear that it was  _way_ too dangerous to be outside, and she’d been forced to duck into a coffee shop instead.

Apparently she had been better off at the coffee shop. The front foyer was a mess; Huey, Dewey, and Webby were shuffling around, trying to clean things up, and the air was noticeably subdued.  _Something_ had happened.

“Should… I come back?”

“No,” Webby sighed, then immediately said, “Wait, I mean yes. I mean you should always come back. I mean—”

“I get it, Pink, you’re good,” Lena assured her. “So uh… what happened?”

“Louie’s a _jerk_,” Dewey said, kicking at some debris.

“Leave him alone,” Huey said wearily. “You can’t insult him when he’s not here to defend himself.”

“Oh yeah? Watch me.”

Lena raised an eyebrow at Webby. “Louie stole Gyro’s time travel tub.”

“Why does he have a — never mind, continue.”

“And he went back in time to get a bunch of treasure and gold for himself, ‘cause you know, he wants to be rich and all that. But he screwed up timelines and a bunch of… weird time stuff happened and he kind of accidentally sent us all back in time.”

“…Ah.” Lena had to fight down a shudder at the thought of Webby being lost in time.

“And he fixed it, and everything’s fine, obviously, except there were pirates and cowboys and ninjas and a dinosaur and the mansion got a bit messed up but you know, no big deal.”

“Regular Tuesday, yeah.”

“But… Della was yelling at him because what he did was kind of stupid, and she said something like how could he get into some contraption without knowing what it is, and he um…”

“He’s a jerk.”

“_Dewey_.”

“It wasn’t very nice,” Webby said quietly. “He said he wondered where he got that from.”

_Ouch_ . Lena grimaced. That explained the tense feeling. “So… I should definitely come back later.”

“No, stay please?” Webby asked in a small voice. Today had been one of those adventures that wasn’t… really an adventure, and she wanted her best friend nearby.

And Lena couldn’t say no. “Yeah, ‘course. Let me grab a towel and I’ll help you guys clean up.” She wrung out her sweater, grimacing. “Got caught in that storm trying to get here. I think Tea Time can excuse me dragging water in just this once.”

“Yeah, we’ve got bigger problems then a few puddles.”

Lena stepped around the debris, heading upstairs and ducking into one of the many guest bathrooms to get a towel and dry off at least a bit. Her clothes probably needed to be washed anyways.  _God I hope the theater didn’t leak_ . She really only ever went there to sleep, but the idea of sleeping in a puddle was less appealing.

She stepped out of the bathroom, toweling her hair dry, and paused when she found herself looking into the dark rec room across the hall. Well, mostly dark. There was a little ball of light on the couch that was unmistakably a cell phone.

_Let’s see, the others are cleaning up, Beakley doesn’t seem like the type to waste time on her phone, and it sounds like Scrooge and Della have bigger problems, so_ …

“’Sup?”

Louie jumped, looking up from his phone to see Lena leaning against the couch, arms crossed over the back, looking down at him. “You’re dripping,” he complained, covering his head.

“Yeah, that happens when you get caught in a torrential downpour.” She backed up, scrubbing her hair some more. “So, time travel, huh? Personally, I’d go to the future. I’m always curious about what I’ll look like in ten years or something. Provided I actually live that long. Although my best record so far is fifteen, so odds are in my favor.”

“Of course they told you.” Louie rolled his eyes. Like Webby could keep a secret from Lena.

“I walked in and the foyer was destroyed. That’s not really something you can avoid explaining.” Lena walked around to sit on the ottoman in front of Louie, raising an eyebrow. “Bit of a low blow at Della, don’t you think?”

“Great, you too. How am I _wrong_, she ran off in a rocket _days_ before we hatched, she had no idea what she was doing, but the _adventure_ was too important for her—”

“Dude, slow down.” Lena sighed. “If anyone can understand resenting your family, it’s me. Trust me. I get it. She disappeared for ten years, she can’t just waltz back into your life and be your mom.”

Louie blinked, clearly disarmed. “Yeah… that’s pretty much it. How did you—?”

“You’re not as complex as you think.” Lena tossed the towel aside, curling her legs under herself, leaning back on her hands. “Or I made a lucky guess. Your call.”

The boy frowned, then shook his head. “Everyone else just…  _forgave _ her, like it’s that easy, like it wasn’t her own  _fault_ that she was gone, like she didn’t abandon us. She pretty much wrecked our family. Uncle Donald and Uncle Scrooge didn’t talk for  _ten years_ because of her. We didn’t even know we were  _related_ to Scrooge until Uncle Donald was desperate enough for a babysitter that he brought us here. She screwed up our entire lives. How am I supposed to forgive that?”

“I don’t know,” Lena admitted. “That’s between you and Della. You’ve got feelings, that’s understandable. It sucks when you feel like you can’t depend on your family for anything or you’re worried they might turn against you.”

Louie raised an eyebrow, remembering Magica in the back woods, yelling at Lena about basically killing her. “Why do you still call Magica your aunt?”

Lena shrugged. “Why do you still call Della Mom?” Louie didn’t have an answer. “Magica’s the one who taught me about family and what it’s  _supposed_ to be like — which was basically me being her slave and doing everything she said without question. It’s warped and messed up, and I  _know_ we’re not really related — she only pulls the family card when she’s trying to manipulate me — but it’s a hard habit to break. She’s never going to change. Even if I thought she could, she’s not worth my time. Della’s trying, though.”

There was a long silence as Louie stared off sullenly at the wall. “So I should forgive her because she’s not Magica?”

“Not being Magica is a bar you basically trip over.” Lena rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying she deserves a _chance_. Whether or not you give her that is up to you.”

“Would you?”

Lena opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to decide what the best answer was. Scrooge had told her once that his promise from before Magica had killed her was still open — if she wanted to live there, all she had to do was pick a room. She could be part of the family, if she wanted. And yet, she was still living under the theater.

“I don’t know,” was the answer she finally settled for. “I had a chance to be part of a family — a _real_ family, not just a deranged fake aunt living in my shadow. But I didn’t take it.”

“Why not?”

“Because… I wasn’t ready. Because I had a lot of things I needed to figure out on my own before I could try to be part of something bigger. If you’re not ready to give Della a chance, that’s fine. It’s your call, man. But don’t blame your mistakes on her. You’re responsible for your own actions.”

“She’s just such a hypocrite."

“Adults usually are. Maybe she doesn’t want you making her mistakes. She ran off with a rocket and left you guys, yeah — and then she was stuck on the moon for ten years. Do you know what it’s like to watch life go by, to _know_ it’s going on without you, and all you can do is watch time slip away?” Again, no answer. “She lost ten years, it’s her own fault, I don’t think anyone would argue with that. And I’m not saying that’s enough of a punishment, but… that’s a start.”

“Yeah.” Louie looked at the wall, frowning. “I guess.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Lena asked, “Why’d you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Take the… bath tub time machine. God that’s weird.”

“You’re a _witch_, how is that any weirder?”

“Focus.”

Louie shrugged, slouching. “I just… wanted something. I want to be more than the green one or the youngest or the screw up.”

“So you did something monumentally _stupid_ to try and not be the screw up anymore?”

“You don’t get it.”

“You’re right,” Lena replied. “This one I don’t get. You have dreams. You want to do things. You want more. But you can’t _always_ want more.”

“Why not?” Louie’s tone turned defensive, and Lena could tell she was losing any good will she’d gained. She pressed on anyways.

“Because if you’re always looking ahead, you’re never going to appreciate what’s right in front of you.” Lena waved a hand. “You’ve _always_ had a family that loves you, you’ve always had people you could turn to when you screwed up, and you could always trust them to be there for you. Sure, maybe you didn’t grow up in a mansion and maybe your mom did something stupid, but at least you knew Donald and your brothers cared about you. Assuming you could understand Donald. You already have something amazing now. And no this isn’t a ‘family is the most valuable thing you can have’ speech, although it does seem appropriate for the way you all act sometimes—”

“You say ‘you all’ like Webby hasn’t already put you on the family tree.”

“That… is something to deal with another time. I’m just saying you’re never going to be happy if you _always_ want more. Because nothing is ever going to be good enough. And chances are the future is never going to be what you want it to be. Or hey, it might be better. Could you have imagined living in a mansion two years ago?”

“No,” Louie admitted. “Why is wanting more so bad, though?”

“I’m not saying it’s bad. I’m saying live in the present. Wanting things isn’t bad. Forfeiting the things you already have is, though.”

Louie turned his gaze back to the wall. “So, what, you just never dream about anything?”

“Thinking about the future is no fun when you have an expiration stamp on your forehead.” Louie grimaced. “Living in the present is all I’ve ever had. So…” Lena shrugged. “Trade ya. I’ll take your future obsession, you take expert on living in the present.”

“Isn’t _living in the present _what almost got you and Webby killed by the Beagle Boys?”

“_Almost_. It doesn’t count.”

Louie snorted, smiling just slightly for the first time since this entire mess had started. “Oi, you lot are supposed to be—” Scrooge nudged the door open, stopping when he saw the teen on the ottoman. “Oh, Lena. When did you get here?”

“A few minutes ago. Tried to make it here before the storm but I wasn’t fast enough. Sounds like I got off lucky, though.”

“Possibly.” Louie peeked carefully over the top of the couch. “Louie, you’re supposed to be in your room.”

“No, it’s fine,” a very quiet voice said behind Scrooge. “Just leave it.”

Scrooge looked back at his niece, sighing. “I should get back downstairs anyways,” Lena said, standing and stretching. “Before Webby starts to worry I fell into a time anomaly or something. Man this family is weird.”

“Your _aunt_ threw a temper tantrum at my back gate for three hours on Saturday,” Scrooge reminded her. She shrugged.

“I never said my family was normal.”

She made her way to the door, running a hand through her damp hair. “If you want to borrow a shirt, I’m sure Beakley wouldn’t mind taking care of your clothes.”

“I’m good.”

“Hey, Lena?”

She paused, looking back at Louie. “Yeah?”

“You should… take that offer. I mean, a family would be lucky to have you.”

Lena raised an eyebrow. “Going soft on me, dude?”

“Psh.” He rolled his eyes and flopped back down on the couch. “Never.”

Scrooge gave Lena a look as she stepped out of the rec room. “Our home’s always open, lass.”

“I know.” Lena looked passed Scrooge, at Della, who was puffy-eyed and staring at the ground, looking absolutely defeated. “Just… not yet.”

Words from what felt like another life echoed through time, into Lena’s head.  _Family, huh? Not really my thing_ .

But maybe, she thought with one last look over her shoulder before she headed back to the stairs. Maybe it could be.


End file.
